The Vision
Composable Finance’s vision of blockchain-agnosticism for the DeFi space stems from its recognition of cross-chain interoperability as the next major frontier for Web3 development.
DeFi growth means the creation of new blockchains and protocols most of which do not natively interoperate with each other. For DeFi not to become a victim of its own success, i.e hampered by the siloed nature and fragmented liquidity of the blockchain ecosystem, interoperability has to be pushed to the forefront. This means enabling DeFi developers and end-users with the right tools for them to spin off interoperable decentralized applications.
As such, Composable’s vision is to abstract away the difficulty in inter-ecosystem decision making that arises due to this siloing, helping developers and end-users to maximize outcomes based on their set goals. To realize this vision, Composable Finance is working to build products that push the boundaries of the blockchain and Web3 industry progressively further along the continuum of interoperability. The final destination is envisioned as absolute ecosystem agnosticism where developers and users enjoy ultimate user-friendliness and optimized functionality.
Why DotSama?
Composable selected Polkadot and its sister chain — Kusama to build its interoperable tech stack using Polkadot’s Substrate framework. Substrate allows DeFi developers to build highly customizable pallets that can perform forkless upgrades with governance embedded into the runtime of the chain upon which they are built.
Polkadot is a scalable heterogeneous blockchain infrastructure focused on providing developers with the single ground for developing varying degrees of generality for their blockchain ecosystems. As one of the largest interoperable blockchain networks alongside its Kusama network, Polkadot enables the customization of blockchains with unique interoperable feature sets without being bogged down by scalability and security. Developers leveraging Polkadot can launch their Layer 1 chains (Parachains) which rely on the relay chain for shared security while equally tapping into the interoperable communication with other Parachains within the network.
Parachains are a type of interoperable data structure within the Polkadot ecosystem, validated by and connected to Polkadot’s Layer 0 consensus layer, otherwise known as its Relay Chain. Composable has access to build on DotSama after securing two Parachain slots — Picasso and the Composable Parachain. Polkadot allows developers to build atop connected Parachains using pallets, a substrate based alternative to smart contracts.
Pallets are modular substrate frameworks that offer developers a highly optimized accelerated blockchain development process. Composable’s goal is to unify the fragmented blockchain networks and their ecosystems. To create an interoperable ecosystem enabled by Substrate, Composable bridges to Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) Layer 1s and Layer 2s chains as well as tapping into the inter-blockchain connectivity (IBC) protocol to harness the powers of the Cosmos ecosystem. Beyond security, perhaps most compellingly, DotSama’s cross-chain enablement aligns with Compsable’s unique vision of a blockchain agnostic ecosystem.
Composable’s Ecosystem Overview
Backed by Polkadot’s finality and shared security of the relay chain, Composable’s unique array of tools becomes the go-to hub for anyone seeking to interface and interact with highly secured, cross-chain interoperability solutions. Our incubations arm, Composable Labs, provides forward thinkers with the necessary resources to turn their ideas into flourishing applications within the Composable ecosystem. Below is an overview of the critical components that make up the Composable ecosystem as an interoperable tech stack powerhouse with a deep dive on each component that makes up the greater whole.
Mosaic, is Composable’s transfer availability layer that uses advanced liquidity management and Just-in-Time (JIT) liquidity bots to leverage a network of existing bridging infrastructure. It creates a next-generation chain-and-layer-agnostic asset transferal system that guarantees retail and institutional-grade transfers, employs dynamic fees and efficiently rebalances itself to ensure scalable liquidity at all times.
Built by employing three paradigm modules, Mosaic guarantees liquidity across DeFi bridges for asset transfers and liquidity directing between EVM-compatible chains as well as a multitude of L1 and L2 scaling technologies. It also acts as a vital touchpoint for DotSama protocols to tap into the liquidity rich EVM ecosystems to drive TVL growth for their native protocols through the Mosaic SDK. Mosaic’s dynamic fee model helps LPs generate superior yields through LPing at the best rates. The predictive bot forecasting feature of Mosaic helps to ensure liquidity is always balanced between layers and chains in the case of passive LPs. Mosaic is equally powered by JIT liquidity active management bots which can synergistically compete with passive LPs to ensure liquidity is routed to a bridge or layer when needed. The end goal is that Mosaic can guarantee chain-and-layer agnostic transfer irrespective of transaction volume, which has been the bane of most bridges.
Leveraging Mosaic’s interoperability potential, Mural is Composable’s NFT transferal pallet that enables the seamless cross-chain transfer of NFT assets for users to fully explore ownership benefits. Because NFTs are by nature non-fungible and siloed on the blockchain upon which they are created, Composable has built out Mural to solve this problem.
Mural utilizes Mosaic’s as a transfer availability and bridging functions to unlock the vast potentials within NFTs thereby accelerating an interoperable future in that sector. By employing a lock and unlock mechanism where the original NFTs are locked at the source layer and a copy unlocked in the destination layer, Mural infuses NFTs with interoperable abilities as users can move them across chains and layers without issue or interruption. On Mural, The NFT exists only in a single location with a single representation of the said NFT on a different location (the selected L2). At every point, users seeking to transfer NFTs via Mural interact with two separate contract addresses, but a single NFT that can be interacted with, and a single jpeg. Due to the existence of only one unlocked version of the NFT, independent of time or location, the asset remains non-fungible but is able to.
Our Polkadot Parachain, the Composable Parachain
Composable Finance secured a Polkadot parachain, now referred to as the Composable Parachain. As such, it enables this parachain to act as a separate and distinct L1 for the Composable ecosystem, reinforced by the larger Polkadot ecosystem. It can now function as a deployment environment for developers whose application and protocol can interact with the entire Polkadot ecosystem.
Composable Cross-Chain Virtual Machine (XCVM) & Routing Layer
Composable’s vision of blockchain agnosticism means that developers can build decentralized applications in an easy-to-use language. To do this, Composable has developed its Cross-Chain Virtual Machine (XCVM) which sits atop the Composable Polkadot Parachain. As a virtual machine, it provides a unified environment for developers to run smart contracts across multiple chains and layers. In theory, XCVM sends this information between various blockchains and layers through the Routing Layer. In other words, the Routing layer is an incentivized pathway that is responsible for routing the information from the XCVM to the correct blockchain and the correct layer, akin to the Internet’s Port Control Protocol.
For the efficiency of the Routing Layer, it needs broad access to the ecosystem of blockchains in a fast manner while still ensuring security is not compromised. This is why the XCVM and Routing Layer sit on our Composable Parachain that maintains shared security with Polkadot’s Relay Chain where validators have staked billions of dollars for a reinforced network.
Composable also designed and developed a Substrate bridge, Centauri, to connect with the Cosmos ecosystem which functions as an internet of blockchains through the inter-blockchain communication (IBC) bridge. As a bridge with native interoperability, Centauri will connect the Kusama and Polkadot ecosystem to the Cosmos network. This represents one of a number of blockchains that will soon be bridged onto the Composable ecosystem, and help drive the ecosystem towards absolute blockchain agnosticism.
Graduating pallets from Picasso to the Composable Parachain
Composable understands the importance of security, especially for blockchain applications that have zero tolerance for errors. Hence, Picasso, Composable’s sister chain caters to DeFi developers to safely and quickly deploy their applications using pallets. These pallets can be iterated upon within Picasso specifically designed as a cross-chain hub that allows developers to explore their fullest creativity. Although these DeFi pallets (dApps) can fully thrive on Picasso, they have the option of graduating to the Composable Parachain for greater security through governance votes by staking $LAYR — Composable Parachain’s native token.
Conclusion
Composable’s vision for absolute blockchain agnosticism encapsulates the entire DeFi and Web 2.0 space. Developers and end-users can interact, drive and obtain value by leveraging Composable as an advanced Web 3.0 API. We create generalizability that abstracts away complexities as participants interface with blockchain technology. Picasso, our Kusama Parachain, serves as an innovation hub and fulcrum for innovators to swiftly develop and deploy cross-chain applications. The Composable parachain works synergistically with Picasso to offer a secured, incentivized environment with the superior security of Polkadot’s Relay Chain.
Composable Ecosystem Overview was originally published in Composable Finance on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
